Kluwe: He and Tebow 'the exact same'

Former Vikings punter compares himself to Tebow

Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who made headlines for alleging that the Vikings cut him for his pro-gay political stance, believes another NFL player is being kept out of the league for similar reasons. That player? Tim Tebow.

Their political beliefs might fall on opposite sides of the spectrum, but Kluwe believes the fact that both are interested about things outside the game (and vocal about those things) is what is keeping both of them out of the game.

“As much as we are polar opposites on the things we stand for, Tebow is the exact same way. There are backup quarterbacks in the NFL right now that Tebow is certainly better than — he could fill a role with a team. But because he brings this other stuff with him, just like I bring my other stuff with me, teams look at it like, ‘We don’t want it. We don’t want players speaking out. We don’t want players doing anything other than football.’”

Kluwe may have a point, but it’s tough to provide any evidence. Both Kluwe and Tebow were invited to team camps this past year and at least given shots to hook up with a team (with Tebow at the Patriots and Kluwe at the Raiders) and neither made the final roster.

For now, both will have to find things to do off the field.

Kluwe showed he knows how to write and presumably there will be more opportunities for him as an activist and speaker, and Tebow just signed a contract with ESPN to be a college football analyst on their fledgling SEC Network.